


The Case of Ianto Jones's Mysterious Partner

by thirteeninafez



Category: Torchwood
Genre: 5+1 Things, Canon Compliant, Fluff, Friendship, Humor, M/M, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Romance, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:33:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22971823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thirteeninafez/pseuds/thirteeninafez
Summary: 5 times Ianto accidentally tells the Torchwood Team something about his partner and 1 time Captain Jack reveals the truth.Set in the middle of season one at the very beginning of their relationship, canon compliant! First Torchwood fic so be kind!
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Comments: 13
Kudos: 264





	The Case of Ianto Jones's Mysterious Partner

“Tosh!” Jack commanded as he rushed into the Torchwood base, the klaxon noise coming from the door barely louder than his voice as it reverberated across the building.

As Tosh looked up at the entrance, her eyes widened to see Jack walking briskly, trying to drag two tall creatures behind him, despite them being seemingly unconscious. Following behind him (albeit at a slower pace) was Ianto, himself dragging a body which was also asleep. She immediately stood up, preparing to go and help them as she noticed Ianto struggling to hold it with one arm. However, before she could move Jack spoke once again.

“Weevil attack, three of them down by the abandoned warehouse we were tracking last week. I want information on rift activity for the last few days- we have them subdued, but I want to know why they were there. Make it a priority.”

Tosh nodded and sat back down, knowing her boss would have things under control. A few weevils were nothing new, but seeing them all together was less common- and her fingers itched to start pulling up the recent databases and get to the bottom of it.

“Gwen!” Jack shouted again, turning back to look at Ianto when he stumbled under the weight of the weevil. “Get in here, I need you to take the weevil from Ianto.”

When he began to weakly protest, Tosh turned to glance again at the two of them, and now that they were further into the hub she could see dark red colouring seeping into the arm of Ianto’s suit. She gasped.

“Ianto, are you hurt?” She asked, pausing her work.

“I’m fine, barely a scratch.” He replied, his voice laboured and breathing heavy. From beside him, Jack tutted and moved to try to take the third weevil from his hands, even as the two he was dragging limited his ability to move quickly. Ianto shook his head and held tighter to the creature, shooting a glare at his Captain.

“Gwen! Get up here, what’s taking so long?” He shouted once more, and was relieved to hear footsteps rushing up the stairs.

“Oh God,” She fretted as she saw the blood on her friend’s sleeve. She rushed up and took the creature off him. “What happened?”  
“Attack at the warehouse from last week- we were just checking up on things when these three jumped us.” Jack returned, grunting with the effort of moving with the creatures. “We had it under control until one of them decided to try to take a bite out of Ianto here. I guess he’s too good looking for even alien life forms not to want a piece of...”

“In case you forgot, Sir, I’m standing right here and I have a bite mark on my arm.” Ianto replied, looking partly annoyed, but significantly more tired.

“Which is exactly why I want you to go down to see Owen and get it checked out. You’re not to head out until he’s deemed you safe.” Jack said, voice quieter but just as demanding. Upon hearing Ianto’s groans, he spoke once more. “That’s an order, Ianto.”

Gwen and him began to descend the stairs and head towards the vaults, where the other weevils were held. Ianto sighed, and slowly made his way towards Owen’s area.

“There we go, all patched up for you.” Owen spoke, dropping the needle he had been using to stitch the wound together with onto the side of the table. He dabbed the wound with a cleaning fluid before giving Ianto one last look over to ensure nothing had been missed.

“Thank you,” Ianto replied, gritting his teeth as he felt the sting from the antiseptic. “Do you have any pain killers?”

Owen nodded and went to find some in a draw at the side of the room, returning and handing it to Ianto. As he did, he noticed something on the opposite side of his coworker’s body to where the injury was, and at first assumed it to be a bruise (his chest had a fair amount of purpling areas). However, as he inspected it closer he suddenly realised- with a great deal of shock- what it was.

“Ianto? What’s that on your collar?” He asked, one eyebrow cocking. Ianto looked down to where Owen was pointing and his eyes immediately flew wide open.

It was a hickey.

Bold as daylight, there was a mark there which had been left from the previous night. Ianto cursed himself for getting injured and needing to take his shirt off- if he had rolled out the way of the weevil before it had reached him, then he wouldn’t have had to look at Owen’s smug expression from beside him.

“A bruise. Probably from the weevils.” He returned calmly, hoping his cheeks weren’t betraying him by going red.

Owen barked out a laugh. “That’s no normal bruise.” He teased. “Are you shagging someone?”

Ianto choked on thin air as he registered what he was being asked. “ _No,_ ” he answered quickly, and continued after seeing Owen’s grin still in place. “Even if I was- which I am not- that is _not_ an appropriate question to be asking!”

“Oh, go on. Tell me about her. Was it a one night thing, or has this been going on for a while?” He queried.

Ianto cursed his brain for immediately wandering off to thoughts of roaming hands and heavy, hot breaths mingling together under thin bed sheets and… he mentally shook himself, getting the images out of his mind. 

“I’m not telling you anything.” He spoke defiantly. “There’s nothing _to_ tell!”

Owen stood up abruptly and began to walk towards the door, a spark in his eyes. “Yeah, right.” He said, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Oi, Gwen!” He shouted as he left the room, leaving Ianto behind, cursing as his fingers fumbled to put his shirt back on as he followed him to the hub.

Catching up with Owen at last, his heart plummeted as he saw the look on both Gwen and Tosh’s faces as Owen spoke erratically to them. He closed his eyes and sighed, wondering how he would get out of this one.

“Tell me he’s joking, Ianto.” Gwen asked, disbelief in her eyes. “You wouldn’t- I mean. You’re the last person I’d expect to be- you know…”

“Whatever he’s said to you, he’s lying.” Ianto said quietly, praying they would take his word over their other coworker’s.

“Bullshit. I _saw_ what was on your collar.” 

Tosh gasped and put down her pen, a sign which indicated that Owen had got her full attention. It took something quite special to get her to ignore whatever work was on her screen, and Ianto was non to pleased to know his sex life had joined that elusive list.

“Owen, there were a number of bruises over my body, as I fought 3 weevils earlier today. What you saw was simply a minor injury.” He reasoned.

“Oh, a minor injury?” He replied. “Then you won’t mind showing the girls your little bruise, right?”

Ianto shook his head and scoffed. “That is hardly an appropriate thing to do whilst I am at work.”

Owen merely laughed, and in one swift movement was by Ianto’s side, playfully wrestling with the hem of his shirt as the girls laughed nearby. “Come on, nobody here is gonna complain!”

Ianto swatted his hand away and stood back. “This is harassment.” He frowned at Owen.

As he spoke, the noise of a door opening across the hub was heard, and Jack stepped out, hands crossed around his chest. Ianto felt relieved all of a sudden at the distraction, hoping he would be able to slip away unnoticed while the others listened to Jack.

“Whoever’s harassing Ianto, I want you to remember that job belongs to me.” Jack smirked, walking down to join them. He quickly quipped an eyebrow at Ianto, who inwardly groaned when he realised the conversation was far from over. “Although, if you’re trying to take his shirt off, I won’t have any complaints.”

Ianto rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to complain yet again, but Owen got there first.

“Well, it’s hardly your job anymore, Jack.” He muttered, and the smirk was wiped off the Captain’s face in an instant.

“What do you mean?” He asked, looking at Owen, who finally seemed to want to be quiet under his boss's gaze.

“Owen was telling us about a mark he saw on Ianto when looking over his wound,” Tosh answered instead. “Which was obviously in accordance with his patient-confidentiality rule.”

Owen had the decency to look sheepish at this comment, but Ianto missed seeing his expression as he instead focused on the way Jack’s smirk twitched ever so slightly, and his eyes twinkled. _Now he was done for,_ Ianto thought.

“Mature,” Jack spoke. “As much as I would love to hear about the devilishly attractive person leaving marks on Ianto, I think it’s best not to talk about it while at work.”

Ianto breathed a sigh of relief at last. “Thank you, Sir. That’s what I said.” He pretended not to see the other three adults deflate slightly at the signalling of the end of the conversation.

“Anyhow, come up to my office Ianto, I need you to sign the paperwork about what happened earlier today.” He finished, before turning on his heels and returning back to the room he had entered from. Ianto stood up, straightened his tie and followed after.

“Cocky bastard,” He spoke as soon as the door shut behind him. Jack crowded him against the wall, being careful to avoid his injured left arm. “ _Devilishly attractive_. You’re the most self-obsessed man I know.”

Jack chuckled as his hand moved to Ianto’s side, face millimeters away from him. “Oh, I’ll take that as a complement…” He trailed off, before he leant in and closed the gap between them.

  
*****  
  


Surprisingly, the topic of Ianto’s elusive partner was not brought up for a while, perhaps due to their workloads, which had increased significantly when gatherings of weevils had indeed been linked to odd behavior through the rift. It was only once Ianto had finally let his guard down and forgotten about the issue that it was suddenly brought to the surface again.

Enjoying a rare quiet day within Torchwood Headquarters, Ianto had brought everybody their 11AM coffee as per usual, setting both Owen and Gwen’s down on the table beside where they were working. He straightened up and was about to move over to where Jack was working (at the other side of the room) when Owen’s head turned to look at him, a thoughtful look etched onto his features.

“Is that suit the same one you were wearing yesterday?” He questioned, eyeing the red shirt he had on. Ianto paused, and without looking over, could sense Jack stopping his writing to instead listen in on their conversation.

“I own multiple shirts of the same colour, Owen. Not that I see why this is of any importance to you.” He replied, and started to move away once more. This time, however, he was interrupted by Gwen instead.

“Are you sure? This one doesn’t look like it’s been ironed for a good month,” She pointed out, and Ianto looked down, frowning at the creases running along it. To be fair, it was looking pretty neat considering it had spent the best part of a night screwed up in a ball after being discarded by the side of a bed.

His pause must have been enough of an answer for the two of them to burst into action once more.  
“You didn’t go home at all last night, did you?” Gwen asked, swirling in her chair to face him.

“Was it the same bird again?” Owen added.

“No don’t tell me- you’re actually dating someone?”

“Or just a secret sex life you haven’t told us about…”

“Oh, enough,” Ianto spoke over them, raising his voice louder than he had intended. They both went silent, making the room quiet enough for Ianto to hear the chair Jack was sitting in creak as it wheeled closer to where they were sitting. “I just didn’t change shirts this morning, that’s all.”

As the pair of them began to speak up once more, the door opened and Tosh walked into the room. She smiled at them, oblivious to the argument going on, and walked over to the tray of coffee Ianto was holding.

“Good morning Ianto, late in this morning? You weren’t at your desk when I got here.” She calmly stated, as if talking about the weather. 

Gwen’s mouth dropped open. Owen’s face morphed into an almost sadistic grin.

Ianto swore.

“Ianto Jones, that isn’t language I like to hear my employees use at work,” Jack called from across the room, causing the clash of voices to quiet as he walked over. Ianto internally laughed as he at least took one good thing away from this conversation- knowing he had got Jack’s attention when he swore out loud.

“Sorry, Sir,” He apologised, and reached down for the last remaining cup of coffee that was on his tray. “Coffee?”

Jack looked at him and took the offering, holding it as everyone was quiet for a moment. Jack looked him up and down once, and Ianto wished- oh, how he wished he could wipe that smirk straight off his stupidly handsome face.

“You know, if you need to borrow a shirt I have an entire wardrobe downstairs,” Jack spoke slowly.

“Even if I did need to change shirts- which I don’t, I’m simply reusing my shirt from yesterday- I would find it highly inappropriate to wear someone else’s item of clothing. Sir.” He replied, looking straight back at Jack.

From her chair, Gwen could’ve sworn something flashed momentarily through Jack’s eyes as Ianto said these words- something which looked close enough to disappointment, but before she knew it the playful expression was back on his face and she was certain she must have made it up. Captain Jack wasn’t the kind of person who could be easily disappointed by something trivial.

“Might I ask what is going on here?” Tosh asked, still not sure on what she had walked into.

“Ianto didn’t go home last night…” Owen supplied, and Tosh’s eyes opened comically wide in surprise.

“That’s not true!” Ianto protested, turning back to the other three as Jack walked back to his desk, the older man obviously enjoying the discomfort Ianto was going through.

“Oh, come on, I think it’s great that you’re pursuing happiness in your spare time!” Gwen countered. “I don’t know why you’re embarrassed about it.”

“I’m not embarrassed about it because there is no “it” to talk about!” Ianto said, and huffed as he grabbed his tray and stormed out of the room one last time.

  
*****  
  


It was only a few days later that the next incident occurred.

The Torchwood team had spent the best past of the last two days chasing down an alien which was wreaking havoc across the city of Cardiff. Reports of people acting very peculiarly had caught Tosh’s attention, and once the reports of multiple ‘brainwashed’ people had been collated, Jack had taken himself, Gwen and Ianto out to investigate.

It had ended up in a showdown. The humanoid creature had been drawn into the trap that had been set, and Jack had led his team to almost perfection. It was only at the last moment that they had seen the gun-like object, and it was far too late for them to stop the trigger from being pressed, and next thing they knew Ianto was on the floor. In a flash, Jack shot the creature straight through the head.

Smoking gun discarded quickly, Jack ran over to Ianto- closely followed by Gwen. He was down on his knees beside the male before he knew it.

“Find a pulse, please God find a pulse…” He muttered to himself as one hand grabbed at Ianto’s neck, and the other came up to rest under his cheek, softly stroking it. “Come on, you beautiful bastard, you’re not giving up on us now.”

His worry immediately lessened as he was met with a faint pulse, and he let out a great sigh of relief. Calling his team, he quickly updated them on what had happened.

“Ianto’s down, he’s been hit but has a pulse. The bullet hasn’t left much of a mark, it seems to be a tiny thing lodged into his chest.” He spoke, as his hands reached under his suit to find the place he was shot. “Minimal blood loss, but I’m getting us back to base immediately as we don’t yet know what technology the alien was using.”

He got various replies from his team, and together with Gwen managed to get both Ianto and the body of the alien into the car.

“Gwen, take the body down to the morgue for analysis later on, leave the weapon and technology with Tosh. Tosh, I want you to run a full scan on the tech, we need to find out where it’s from and what it does as soon as possible. Owen, get up here and help me with Ianto.”

Everyone jumped into action as their boss walked through the door. Resting Ianto on a chair nearby, Jack stood back as Owen began to take observations of his patient.

“Nothing immediate seems to be off with him, other than shallower breathing and a weaker pulse. Seems to be more of a tranquiliser than a weapon which was used.” Owen explained, and Jack let out a sigh.

“The scan has finished, Jack.” Tosh called out, and Jack turned to her to listen closely. “It detected Toraxian technology from an unknown planet. Chemical compositions from the bullets in the weapon seem to be designed for changing the performance of the anterior cingulated cortex and the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex.”

“English, please Tosh.” Jack groaned.

“They are parts of the brain which control behavior and monitor any errors made.” She explained.

“That would explain the brainwashing,” Owen muttered. Jack found his hand slowly making circles across Ianto’s bare shoulder as he lay, still asleep. His shirt was open and under different circumstances, Jack would be fixated on the show of skin, but the small hole in his chest was preventing him from feeling anything but worry.

“Wait a minute- did you say Toraxian tech?” Jack questioned, and Tosh nodded back at him. “How do I know that species?”

Before he could put much thought into it, he suddenly felt movement from where his hand was resting on Ianto. His heart rate increased as he noticed his eyes flutter slightly, and his fingers begin to twitch. It looked like he was waking up.

From across the room, Gwen returned, and looking at Ianto she began to speak. “God, you’ve not exactly been lucky the past few weeks, what with the weevil bite and now this, have you?” She asked, and Ianto’s eyes opened suddenly to look at her.

“It has nothing to do with luck. Statistically, I am the most likely to be injured out of the employees of Torchwood as I have the least field experience and am the slowest in combat, thus it is more than likely I should be injured more often than others here.” He spoke, his voice dry but monotonous.

“That’s not true!” Tosh spoke.

“Yes it is.” Ianto replied back.

For a moment everybody stood and stared at him, now fully awake and focusing on Gwen. Then something clicked in Jack’s brain.

“Toraxian! Yes, I remember. Alien lawyers!” He spoke quickly, voice picking up. “They develop technology with a variety of use for court- most famous being their brainwashing drug and truth serum. Totally illegal this side of the galaxy, but our alien could’ve come from anywhere through the rift.”

“So you’re saying Ianto has been brainwashed?” Tosh asked, looking worried.

“Possibly, but now the user of the tech is dead, I reckon it’s mainly the truth serum which has effect at the moment. Is that right, Ianto?”

“I do not know what has happened to me, but the words I speak are the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” He reeled off, and the others looked on in amazement.

“Attaboy, Ianto.” Jack said, clapping him on the shoulder. “I remember the effects being harmless and quick to disappear, but let’s keep an eye on him for a couple of days.”

Everyone around him nodded, as relieved as the next to hear their friend would be okay. Surprisingly, Owen began to laugh.

“Go on then. Let’s have some fun!” He spoke, and before Jack could stop him, he had reopened his mouth. “What’s your girl like, then? The one you’re sleeping with?”

“Owen!” Gwen gasped, as she shoved him on the shoulder. She looked at where Ianto was sitting, and he began to speak. From beside him, Jack’s face looked frozen in what seemed like fear- but Gwen was distracted from him by the first word out of Ianto.

“He’s good. Very good. He’s charming, and sexy, and one of the hottest guys I’ve ever met. The things he does, with his mouth and his co-”

Jack stopped Ianto from speaking by putting his hand across his mouth, as quickly as possible. His eyes seemed to seethe with rage as he looked up at the silent group of people around him, who were all stood, frozen in shock.

“Stop talking, Ianto, that’s an order.” He barked, and thankfully there was enough of the brainwashing drug left in him for him to listen. Jack turned on Owen. “Get out.”

“I didn’t mean-” Owen tried, but was cut off.

“It doesn’t matter what you meant to do! That was a total breach of privacy, and a loss of trust between us. You just outed him in front of all of his friends. You didn’t think there was a reason he wasn’t talking about his partner?” He raged, and Owen swallowed heavily, looking down at the floor.

“I had no idea about that-”

“Go home. ”

Owen was all too quick to stumble across the room, heading for the door, but turned at the last minute. “I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.”

He was met with the gazes of his coworkers, icy and annoyed. Turning back around, he left the building.

Jack swallowed. “I’ll stay with him, make sure this wears off properly before he’s allowed back to work. You guys head on home.” He weakly spoke, and the others nodded.

“Let me know if anything changes, or if you need help.” Tosh offered, and Jack nodded gratefully. He watched them leave before pulling Ianto into a hug, soothing him despite the lack of emotional response from his brainwashed friend.

“Come on, let’s get you to bed.”

  
*****  
  


Ianto found that if he refused to acknowledge that the truth-serum incident had occurred, he would be left alone and the interrogations about his partner would dry up. His friends wouldn’t bring it up, afraid of how Ianto would respond, and that was how he liked it. Without their prying questions the only thing to fear was the worry that someone would come back after hours for some late night work, and discover that there was still a light on in their boss’s office.

Unsurprisingly, the next time the topic was brought up was once again due to Owen’s lack of care when choosing the words to speak. To be fair to him, he had had a pretty rough day with the agency, and to top it all off the girl he had planned to meet up with later in the evening had cancelled on him, leaving him frustrated, annoyed and more than a little bit lonely.

“It’s not fair,” He moaned from the center of the hub, not noticing the look Gwen and Tosh gave each other as he started to complain. “This job gets in the way of everything. And yet you guys all get time to have fun. Gwen’s dating Rhys, Tosh got it on with an alien for Gods sake- and even Ianto has a sodding boyfriend.”

The room froze as they realised what he had just said, the air turning awkward as Owen had finally spoken about the elephant in the room. Ianto coughed from where he was standing, filing documents into a cabinet. He turned.

“It’s not like that, between me and him.” He spoke, acting nonchalant. Everyone’s eyes opened slightly wider as they eagerly awaited more information, shocked that Ianto was voluntarily letting them hear about his relationship. “He isn’t my boyfriend because we’re not dating. Just seeing each other.”

“Oh.” Owen replied, feeling a bit stupid. Ianto sensed the awkward mood that had settled over the room.

“I know you’ve all wanted to know what’s going on between us. So that’s it.” He finished, nodding as he turned back to the papers and filing cabinet. “Purely physical.”

It was at this moment that Gwen noticed a face looking out over the room from a glass wall- namely, their Captain’s face from his office. She didn’t know how but she immediately knew that he was listening into the conversation going on below, and as she looked closer could see his eyes were fixed on Ianto. Something about his expression looked forlorn- as if there was something he wanted to say or do but was holding himself back. The cogs in her mind began to tick just as Ianto spoke again.

“But if you really want a date for tonight, Owen, then I’m sure we wouldn’t miss Janet, or one of the other weevils- just for tonight…” He spoke, trying not to grin- and a switch flipped in the room. Tosh started to giggle, and Owen unfroze himself, babbling back some insult towards Ianto.

When she looked back up, Gwen saw that Jack was gone.

  
*****  
  


“Do you think Jack likes Ianto?” Gwen asked one day, sitting between Tosh and Owen while they paused their work to eat lunch.

She was looking into Jack’s office, where you could clearly see Ianto and Jack standing close to each other and discussing something in private.

“Jack likes everyone here, that’s why he employed us.” Owen replied, not looking up from his sandwich. “Why, do you think they’ve had an argument?”

“No, I was talking about more than just _liking_ Ianto.” Gwen explained, and both Owen and Tosh looked up at her in an instant.

“Jack and Ianto?” Tosh asked. “But Ianto is seeing someone!”

Gwen shook her head again, thoughtful look not leaving her face. “No, it’s hard to explain. I just keep getting this feeling when I look over at Jack, and he’s looking at Ianto.”

“Jack flirts with everyone- it’s not like the teaboy’s anything special.” Owen countered, though he too had a slight frown on his face as he tried to remember anything about the two of their interactions.

“But you didn’t see him, the other week, when Ianto told us about his guy. Jack was watching from his office, and I _swear_ he was listening,” Gwen spoke quickly, checking to see that her boss was still talking to Ianto in his room and not listening to them. “He had this look on his face, he looked almost _sad._ ”

“Rubbish!” Owen laughed, grin plastered over his face. “There’s no way our captain is a love-sick teenager, _especially_ not over Ianto Jones. He could get anybody he wanted- you know what he’s like…”   
“If anything, he’s probably just worried about Ianto, after what happened with Lisa and everything.” Tosh added, and the room quietened again. They were all remembering what had happened earlier on in the year between Ianto and his now-deceased girlfriend, Lisa.

“I don’t think it’s just that.” Gwen replied, slowly. “You remember when Ianto came in wearing the same clothes as the previous day? Jack was for sure disappointed when he offered him a shirt but Ianto said no.”

“Well, that’s typical Captain Jack Harkness for you,” Owen said, still refusing to entertain the thought. “Nothing different to his usual attitude.”

“Just- look at them!” Gwen spoke, as all three of their eyes snapped to Jack’s office. Jack’s hand was now on Ianto’s shoulder, his head cocked as they continued to speak to each other. They seemed to be lost in some sort of conversation, the arm staying put for longer than could be passed off as a pat on the back. It was then that Jack looked out of the window and saw his employees looking straight back at him.

“Great, now you’ve done it,” Owen muttered as Jack quickly took his arm off Ianto’s, and the three of them hastily turned away, looking back at their lunches. “Now he caught us all snooping on him...”

A few moments later, footsteps were heard as Captain Jack and Ianto walked into the hub main area. Ianto went over to retrieve a finished coffee mug from a desk, and turned around to leave again.

“I’m going to work on researching the local history of the church we were at yesterday, Sir. Let me know if there’s anything else you need me to do.” He spoke, and walked off.

“Will do, Ianto.” Jack replied, his eyes filling again with a tired, disappointed look. He weakly glared at the other three, arms folded around his chest. “Don’t you all have work to be doing?”

As he stalked off back in the direction of his office, Gwen shot Owen a look which quite clearly meant _I told you so._

Owen rolled his eyes at her before looking back down at his anatomy report, but his mind wandered from the topic of alien biology as soon as he tried to focus…

  
*****  
  


It was 11:37 on a Thursday morning when all hell broke out across the Torchwood hub.

Gwen had been to feed the weevils earlier in the morning, and was just returning, wiping her hands on a towel as she tried to get the rancid smell of rotting flesh off them. As she walked back into the center of the hub, the door slammed open and Captain Jack stood in the doorway, hands on hips and looking thoroughly pleased about something. His eyes raked across the room, searching for something.

“Where’s Ianto?” He asked, and Gwen rolled her eyes at Owen, careful to not let the boss see.

“Last I heard he was down in the archives.” Tosh supplied, and Jack seemed to be debating something. Having decided, he clicked a button on his earpiece and started to speak.

“Ianto, need some help up here.” He spoke, and then turned the device off again. Owen swiveled round in his chair to face Jack.

“Is everything alright? What’s the situation?” He questioned, but Jack merely smirked back, eyes twinkling.

“Oh, everything is more than alright,” He answered, looking at his watch and chuckling to himself. The others were left perplexed.

“But Ianto..?” Gwen asked, and was cut off by the man himself appearing from the side of the room, slightly out of breath and looking worried.

“Sir?” He asked, and in three long strides Jack was standing right in front of Ianto, reaching his arms out.

The three onlookers watched in shock, their jaws simultaneously dropping as the Captain tipped Ianto back and started to passionately kiss him. They couldn’t speak, only watch as their friends continued to make out, Ianto’s arm finally reaching across Jack’s back as he got lost in what was happening.

After what felt like an eternity, they pulled back from each other- Ianto looking wide eyed and star struck. It took three seconds before the room burst into noise.

“Jack!” Tosh shouted. “Ianto has a- he’s been-”

“I mean, not the weirdest thing I've seen on this job, but it's ranking high-” Owen spoke.

“Wha..?” Ianto himself asked, staring at Jack who still had his arms around his back. Jack grinned in response.

“What time is it?” He asked.

“Just gone 11:30?” Ianto replied.

“What day?”

“The 20th- _oh!_ ” Ianto supplied, as suddenly his brain clicked and he caught up. He groaned. “Has it really already been a whole month?”

“Yup!” Jack replied, popping the ‘p’ and looking very smug. “11:37 on the 20th March, and you, _Ianto Jones,_ just lost.”

The two of them seemed to have forgotten about the other people in the room, until Gwen spoke up. “Uh, sorry, do you two want to let us know what’s going on?”

Jack finally pulled his arms away from Ianto and looked at the others. “Exactly one month ago, Ianto and I made a bet.”

“You _cheated,_ you always cheat!” Ianto interjected.

“No I didn’t!” Jack replied, acting outraged.

“Yes you did- you left marks on me!”

Jack held his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay- but _you_ voluntarily told them information too, which was most _definitely_ against the rules…”

The tips of Ianto’s ears went slightly red. “They were _asking_ , and I had to say something!”

Owen coughed from across the room. Eyes turned to him.

“Can you stop your arguing- or flirting, or whatever you wanna call it- and finish telling us what’s going on?” He demanded. Ianto sighed and opened his mouth.

“One month ago, Jack and I made a bet on whether or not you guys would find out about our little- well, _thing,_ within a month- Jack said you wouldn’t, I said you would.” He explained.

“Your _thing_?” Tosh asked, though most of them in the room could assume what it was.

“We’re sleeping together” Jack answered, quirking his eyebrows without a care in the world- and Ianto started to choke, his own face going red. “Oh, come on, it’s the 21st Century! Why are humans still such prudes about it? It’s just sex!”

“Jack…” Ianto warned, refusing to meet the eyes of anybody in the room. “You didn’t have to announce it in such a crude way.”

“Better this way than walking in on you two, I suppose.” Gwen muttered.

“Oh, thanks Gwen, that’s an image I didn’t need to see in my mind!” Owen said, exasperated.

“So Jack won?” Tosh asked, frown still on her face as she tried to put together everything that was happening.

“Oh yes, I won…” Jack answered, wolfishly grinning at Ianto as he reached for his tie. “And now I get to claim my prize…”

 _“Gross!”_ Gwen yelled as their boss led Ianto away from the room, practically dragging him by his tie as his legs refused to work properly. “Keep it _quiet!”_

The door shut between them, and the three others were left by themselves in silence. Owen collapsed onto the desk.

“I need a strong drink.”

The others murmured in agreement. “Though, I’m not walking past Jack’s office to get to the kitchen…” Gwen said.

“I suppose you were right after all then, Gwen.” Tosh said after a minute of silence. “About Jack liking Ianto.”

Gwen laughed. “Do you think that changes the outcome of the bet?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care.” Owen replied, voice muffled from where he was resting his head on his arms. “If you wanna go up and interrupt them to tell them, be my guest.”

Gwen’s face went pink and immediately decided it was for the best that she didn’t tell them what she had suspected. At least (as a noise of a door slamming from across the hub was heard)-

Not yet.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed, I haven't been too particular about what is or isn't canon in this universe! The Truth Serum information was taken from Langleben's research into brain activity when lying: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15744871&t=1583067099021


End file.
